All those explosions, laser beams and lightsabers in modern movies are created by computers, lots of them. Traditionally the computer of choice has been Apple, but this reign may soon be over as AMD looks to supplant the Apple G4s/G5s with their Opteron 64-bit processors. At Siggraph 2004 in Los Angeles, we took a closer look at why AMD thinks they can win over the movie companies.

THG interviewed Charlie Boswell, Marketing Director of AMD's Digital Media & Entertainment Division, and Dan Gregoire, Pre-Visualization Supervisor at JAK Films. Mr. Gregoire is currently supervising the special effects pre-visualization shots for Star Wars Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith. His company also did the shots for Episode Two.